The King's School, Ottery St Mary

The Chanter's House is a Grade II* listed building[1] which served as the headmaster's lodging. It dates from the 17th century, incorporating parts of the former Precentor's house, known as Heath's Court. In 1645, Oliver Cromwell held a convention in the house's dining room, and Thomas Fairfax stayed at the house from October to December in that year.^[2]

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's father was headmaster of The King's School, Ottery St Mary.

Facilities

The school has access to a facility shared by the public, the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. The King's School was designated as a Specialist

In 2009 the school added a new Multi Use Games Areas (M.U.G.A) which has four netball courts and three tennis courts which are also used by the local Ottery St Mary tennis club.

House system

There are four houses, which date to 1912, as witnessed by the old minute book of the Sports Committee.^{[citation needed]} These provide the school with four large vertically grouped cohorts of students, with form groups separated by house rather than year.

The houses are named after local families:

All houses have separate colours, which are used for inter-house events: red for Coleridge, blue for Kennaway, green for Patteson and purple for Raleigh. The school holds annual inter-house events, these include dance, musical and the 'Top Of The House' quiz.

Notable former pupils

• Walter Raleigh (c. 1554–1618), writer, poet, soldier, courtier, explorer
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), poet, critic, philosopher
• Paul Madden (born 1959), British diplomat
• eventer
• Murray McArthur (born 1966), actor^[3]
• long-distance runner

References

External links

• School website